Sparring

Wow, it’s crowded here today, ” Brody said. It was the following morning. Brody was walking into the gymnasium with Hermes, Julia, and Markos. Some gods were already there, along with their champions. There were several gods Brody had never seen before, including a goddess with flowers sprouting in her hair and floating out of her mouth. He also spotted a god with the legs and horns of a goat. “ The opening of the Games is drawing near, ” Markos reminded him. “ Naturally, everyone wants to be ready. ” “ Right. Including us, ” Hermes said. “ We’ll start with boxing today. ”

“ Do you want me to spar with Brody, Hermes?” Markos asked, sounding nervous. “ No, ” Hermes replied. “ I want you and the girl to wander around Olympia. Find out everything you can about Heracles. ” Markos bowed. “ As you wish, Hermes. We’ll return when we have news. ” He and Julia hurried away. Brody felt disappointed. To his surprise he liked having the two of them around while he worked out. “ I can’t believe I actually like hanging around with a couple of nerds, ” he thought.

He forgot about that when Hermes dragged him over to a goddess wearing a veil and holding a staff. She was watching her champion, a stout youth with long black hair. “ Greetings, Hestia, ” Hermes said. “ My champion needs a sparring partner. What do you say? Shall our champions box?” The goddess eyed Brody. “ I suppose that would be all right, ” she said. “ My champion hasn’t had much chance to practice his boxing in Olympia. Probably because his reputation as the best boxer in Greece has scared off the competition. ”

“ We’ll see about that, ” Hermes said with a chuckle. He shoved Brody forward. “ Get to it, boy! ” Brody nodded and lifted his fists. The other athlete did the same. “ Hi, ” Brody said as he sent off a jab with his left fist. “ I’m Brody. ” “ Yes, I’ve seen you around the agora, ” the other boy said. “ I’m Timon. ” “ Nice to meet you. ” Brody let his right fist fly. “ Oof! ” Timon grunted as Brody’s punch landed on his beefy shoulder.

“ Pay attention, Timon! ” Hestia called. “ You’ll need to do better than that if you wish to defeat Heracles. ” Hestia and Hermes watched the two boys box for a while, calling out orders and encouragement. But eventually they started to look bored. Finally they wandered off to talk to Apollo, who was watching his champion run nearby. Brody was pretty sure he heard Hermes ask Apollo if he’d seen Heracles that day. “ I wish they’d all stop talking about Heracles, ” Timon grumbled. “ I know what you mean. ” Brody dodged a punch. Then he easily landed a punch on the other boy’s chest.

“ Ow! ” Timon complained, rubbing the spot. “ Look. Hera just arrived. ” “ Really?” Brody turned to look. Pain exploded in his chin as Timon’s fist landed there. “ Hey! ” “ Sorry. ” Timon grinned. “ I had to retaliate. Now we’re even. ” “ Fine, ” Brody grumbled, rubbing his chin. He turned his attention back to Hera. The queen of the gods was striding across the gymnasium. Her champion was jogging to keep up.